We Are Premier League
Blog Post Written On:
06.04.2010
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316 days earlier I was at Villa Park to experience the pain and humiliation of relegation out of the Premier League after 16 years. Newcastle United was a team with no spirit, no ambition and no hope. We were heading to the Championship, and a lot of people thought eventually on its way to League 1.
A summer of rumoured takeovers and mis-management led to a 6-1 thrashing by Leyton Orient in a friendly on July 29th, but that was the day that Newcastle United was reborn and a new era began.
Out with the overpaid mercenaries, Martins, Beye, Bassong, Xisco and Duff, and we were left with a squad of players who wanted what all the fans wanted, and that was an immediate return to the Premier League.
That result on day 1 away against Wet Brom was a sign of things to come. A never say die attitude was well and truly part of this set of players, but even at this stage of the season the fans still didn’t have a clue what was happening off the pitch. Were new owners coming in? Was Shearer coming back? Was Hughton good enough to get us back up?
Slowly but surely though, we got more and more good results and eventually Chris Hughton was given the managers job full time. We were top of the league. Could we stay there?
I’m no fan of Mike Ashley, and never will be, but the best thing he did this season was get rid of all the uncertainty by taking the club off the market and appointing Chris Hughton as full time manager. I think that was a major factor in our eventual promotion. What happens in the big league is another story. Will Ashley invest the kind of money needed to keep us up or will he try and do it all on a shoe string? Right this minute, i’m not thinking about that. I’m enjoying promotion right now, and the feel good factor around this club and city. Our next job now is to get promoted as champions.
Chris Hughton has done an amazing job this season. He has moulded together a squad of players with confidence as low as it could go at the start of the season to a team now brimming with confidence. He has brought in a number of players who have done a job at this level and contributed to this successful season. Simpson, Routledge and Williamson to name a few. Are they premier league quality? That isn’t the point. They were bought to get this club promoted, and they have done their job.
I’m looking forward to the last few games of this season, and after the pain of actually getting relegated last May, i can honestly say i have thoroughly enjoyed this season. Football is a funny game.
The above photo is a panoramic picture of St James Park, after the game with Sheffield Utd on the day promotion was secured back to the premier league. Click the image for a larger version.